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Government of the classical Ottoman Empire

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The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces , officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were just as often earned. Positions were perceived as titles , such as viziers and aghas . Military service was a key to many problems.

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110-532: The expansion of the Empire called for a systematic administrative organization that developed into a dual system of military ("Central Government") and civil administration ("Provincial System") and developed a kind of separation of powers : higher executive functions were carried out by the military authorities and judicial and basic administration were carried out by civil authorities. Outside this system were various types of vassal and tributary states . Most of

220-667: A barren wife giving her husband a slave as a concubine is recorded in the Code of Hammurabi . The children of such relationships would be regarded as legitimate . Such concubinage was also widely practiced in the premodern Muslim world, and many of the rulers of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire were born out of such relationships. Throughout Africa, from Egypt to South Africa, slave concubinage resulted in racially mixed populations. The practice declined as

330-563: A bipartite democratic system of government. The "freemen" elected the General Court , which functioned as legislature and judiciary and which in turn elected a governor, who together with his seven "assistants" served in the functional role of providing executive power. Massachusetts Bay Colony (founded 1628), Rhode Island (1636), Connecticut (1636), New Jersey , and Pennsylvania had similar constitutions – they all separated political powers. John Locke (1632–1704) deduced from

440-410: A certain number of persons selected from the legislative body, there would be an end then of liberty; by reason, the two powers would be united, as the same persons would sometimes possess, and would be always able to possess, a share in both. Montesquieu actually specified that the judicial independence has to be real, and not merely apparent. The judiciary was generally seen as the most important of

550-410: A concubine to wife, if the original wife had died and the concubine was the mother of the only surviving sons. Moreover, the prohibition against forcing a widow to remarry was extended to widowed concubines. During this period tablets for concubine-mothers seem to have been more commonly placed in family ancestral altars, and genealogies of some lineages listed concubine-mothers. Many of the concubines of

660-552: A country with more than 3 branches is Taiwan , which uses a five-branch system. This system consists of the Executive Yuan , Legislative Yuan , Judicial Yuan , Control Yuan , and Examination Yuan . Concubines Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar, but mutually exclusive. In China , until

770-419: A government that is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control of the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests,

880-591: A long-term sexual relationship between a man and a woman who are not legally married. In pre-modern to modern law, concubinage has been used in certain jurisdictions to describe cohabitation, and in France, was formalized in 1999 as the French equivalent of a civil union . The US legal system also used to use the term in reference to cohabitation, but the term never evolved further and is now considered outdated. Forms of concubinage have existed in all cultures, though

990-416: A lower class called the rayah . Both in contemporaneous and in modern usage, it refers to non-Muslim subjects in particular, also called zimmi . Civil and judicial administration was carried out under a separate parallel system of small municipal or rural units called kazas administered by a qadi ( kadı ). Kazas in turn were subdivided into nahiyas . The qadis came from the ulema and represent

1100-456: A man and were expected to bear children for him. Unofficial concubines ( Chinese : 婢妾 ; pinyin : bì qiè ) were of lower status, and their children were considered illegitimate. The English term concubine is also used for what the Chinese refer to as pínfēi ( Chinese : 嬪妃 ), or "consorts of emperors", an official position often carrying a very high rank. In premodern China it

1210-455: A man could kill another man caught attempting a relationship with his concubine. By the mid fourth century, concubines could inherit property, but, like wives, they were treated as sexual property. While references to the sexual exploitation of maidservants appear in literature, it was considered disgraceful for a man to keep such women under the same roof as his wife. Apollodorus of Acharnae said that hetaera were concubines when they had

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1320-530: A permanent relationship with a single man, but nonetheless used the two terms interchangeably. Concubinatus was a monogamous union recognized socially and to some extent legally as an alternative to marriage in the Roman Empire . Concubinage was practiced most often in couples when one partner, almost always the man, belonged to a higher social rank, especially the senatorial order , who were penalized for marrying below their class. The female partner

1430-512: A plot element, the children of concubines are depicted with a status much inferior to that in actual history. The zhai dou ( Chinese : 宅斗 ,residential intrigue) and gong dou ( Chinese : 宫斗 ,harem intrigue) genres show concubines and wives, as well as their children, scheming secretly to gain power. Empresses in the Palace , a gong dou type novel and TV drama, has had great success in 21st-century China. Hong Kong officially abolished

1540-458: A prefix meaning "with, together" and " cubare ", meaning "to lie down". Concubine is a term used widely in historical and academic literature, and which varies considerably depending on the context. In the twenty-first century, it typically refers explicitly to extramarital affection, "either to a mistress or to a sex slave ", without the same emphasis on the cohabiting aspect of the original meaning. Concubinage emerged as an English term in

1650-508: A result of the abolition of slavery. In ancient Rome , the practice of concubinatus was a monogamous relationship that was an alternative to marriage, usually because of the woman's lesser social status. Widowed or divorced men often took a concubina , the Latin term from which the English "concubine" is derived, rather than remarrying, so as to avoid complications of inheritance. After

1760-652: A significant part in the exercise of more than one function, this represents a fusion of powers . In the Roman Republic , the Roman Senate , Consuls and the Assemblies showed an example of a mixed government according to Polybius ( Histories , Book 6, 11–13). It was Polybius who described and explained the system of checks and balances in detail, crediting Lycurgus of Sparta with the first government of this kind. John Calvin (1509–1564) favoured

1870-665: A son, the son could inherit his father's social status. Concubines sometimes wielded significant influence. Nene , wife of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was known to overrule her husband's decisions at times and Yodo-dono , his concubine, became the de facto master of Osaka castle and the Toyotomi clan after Hideyoshi's death. Joseon monarchs had a harem which contained concubines of different ranks. Empress Myeongseong managed to have sons, preventing sons of concubines from getting power. Children of concubines often had lower value in account of marriage. A daughter of concubine could not marry

1980-549: A study of the English constitutional system the advantages of dividing political power into the legislative (which should be distributed among several bodies, for example, the House of Lords and the House of Commons ), on the one hand, and the executive and federative power, responsible for the protection of the country and prerogative of the monarch, on the other hand, as the Kingdom of England had no written constitution. During

2090-545: A system of checks and balances . In this way, Calvin and his followers resisted political absolutism and furthered the growth of democracy. Calvin aimed to protect the rights and the well-being of ordinary people. In 1620 a group of English separatist Congregationalists and Anglicans (later known as the Pilgrim Fathers ) founded Plymouth Colony in North America. Enjoying self-rule, they established

2200-434: A system of government that divided political power between democracy and aristocracy ( mixed government ). Calvin appreciated the advantages of democracy , stating: "It is an invaluable gift if God allows a people to elect its own government and magistrates." In order to reduce the danger of misuse of political power, Calvin suggested setting up several political institutions that should complement and control each other in

2310-419: A tyrannical manner. Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power is not separated from the legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with violence and oppression. There would be an end to everything, were

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2420-466: A viable alternative to marriage. In polygynous situations, the number of concubines there were permitted within an individual concubinage arrangement has varied greatly. In Roman law , where monogamy was expected, the relationship was identical (and alternative) to marriage except for the lack of marital affection from both or one of the parties, which conferred rights related to property, inheritance and social rank. By contrast, in parts of Asia and

2530-420: A wife-born son of the same class. For example, Jang Nok-su was a concubine-born daughter of a mayor, who was initially married to a slave-servant, and later became a high-ranking concubine of Yeonsangun . The Joseon dynasty established in 1392 debated whether the children of a free parent and a slave parent should be considered free or slave. The child of a scholar-official father and a slave-concubine mother

2640-402: Is forty of silver. Therefore, send very beautiful concubines without blemish." – (Lewis, 146) Concubines would be kept in the pharaoh's harem . Amenhotep III kept his concubines in his palace at Malkata , which was one of the most opulent in the history of Egypt. The king was considered to be deserving of many women as long as he cared for his Great Royal Wife as well. In Ancient Greece ,

2750-414: Is now known as foreign policy . Locke distinguishes between separate powers but not discretely separate institutions, and notes that one body or person can share in two or more of the powers. Within these factors Locke heavily argues for "Autry for Action" as the scope and intensity of these campaigns are extremely limited in their ability to form concentrations of power. For instance, Locke noted that while

2860-477: Is reported by Madeline Zilfi that European visitors of the time commented "In making appointments, Sultan pays no regard to any pretensions on the score of wealth or rank. It is by merits that man rise..Among the Turks, honours, high posts and Judgeships are rewards of great ability and good service." Though the sultan was the "sublime monarch", he had a number of advisors and ministers. The most powerful of these were

2970-540: The Eastern Han period (AD 25–220) onward, the number of concubines a man could have was limited by law. The higher rank and the more noble identity a man possessed, the more concubines he was permitted to have. A concubine's treatment and situation was variable and was influenced by the social status of the male to whom she was attached, as well as the attitude of his wife. In the Book of Rites chapter on "The Pattern of

3080-635: The English Civil War , the parliamentarians viewed the English system of government as composed of three branches – the King, the House of Lords and the House of Commons – where the first should have executive powers only, and the latter two legislative powers. One of the first documents proposing a tripartite system of separation of powers was the Instrument of Government , written by the English general John Lambert in 1653, and soon adopted as

3190-803: The Great Qing Legal Code in 1971, thereby making concubinage illegal. Casino magnate Stanley Ho of Macau took his "second wife" as his official concubine in 1957, while his "third and fourth wives" retain no official status. Polygyny and concubinage were very common in Mongol society, especially for powerful Mongol men. Genghis Khan , Ögedei Khan , Jochi , Tolui , and Kublai Khan (among others) all had many wives and concubines. Genghis Khan frequently acquired wives and concubines from empires and societies that he had conquered, these women were often princesses or queens that were taken captive or gifted to him. Genghis Khan's most famous concubine

3300-482: The Judeo-Christian-Islamic world, the term concubine has almost exclusively been applied to women, although a cohabiting male may also be called a concubine. In the 21st century, concubinage is used in some Western countries as a gender-neutral legal term to refer to cohabitation (including cohabitation between same-sex partners). The English terms "concubine" and "concubinage" appeared in

3410-444: The consent of the governed (cf. " No taxation without representation "), and cannot transfer its law-making powers to another body, known as the nondelegation doctrine (2nd Tr., §142). The term "tripartite system" is commonly ascribed to French Enlightenment political philosopher Montesquieu , although he did not use such a term but referred to the "distribution" of powers. In The Spirit of Law (1748), Montesquieu described

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3520-470: The legal personhood to marry under Roman law or to contract concubinatus , but the heterosexual union of two slaves, or a freedperson and a slave, might be recognized as an intention to marry when both partners gained the legal status that permitted them to do so. In this quasi-marital union, called contubernium , children seem often to have been desired, in contrast to concubinatus , in which children more often were viewed as complications and there

3630-722: The viziers of the Divan or Imperial Council , led by the Grand Vizier. The Divan was a council where the viziers met and debated the politics of the empire. It was the Grand Vizier's duty to inform the sultan of the opinion of the Divan. The sultan often took his vizier's advice into consideration, but he by no means had to obey the Divan. Sometimes the sultan called a Divan meeting himself if he had something important to inform his viziers of, such as imminent war. The viziers then carried out his orders. The Divan consisted of three viziers in

3740-575: The 14th century and eleven in the 17th century; four of them served as Viziers of the Dome, the most important ministers next to the Grand Vizier. Sometimes the commander ( ağa ) of the Janissaries attended the Divan meetings as well. Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in (1453) and established his court there. The Sultan presided in person over the Council of State – called Divan, after

3850-597: The 14th century, deriving from Latin terms in Roman society and law . The term concubine ( c.  1300 ), meaning "a paramour, a woman who cohabits with a man without being married to him", comes from the Latin concubina ( f. ) and concubinus ( m. ), terms that in Roman law meant "one who lives unmarried with a married man or woman". The Latin terms are derived from the verb from concumbere "to lie with, to lie together, to cohabit," an assimilation of " com ",

3960-519: The 16th and 17th centuries. The sultan also had four other official consorts, who were each called Kadın . Next in rank below the sultan's wives were his eight favourite concubines ( ikbâl s or hâs odalık s), and then the other concubines whom the sultan favoured and who were termed gözde . Next in rank were the concubines of other court officials. Pupils ( acemî ) and novices ( câriye or şâhgird ) were younger women who were either waiting to be married off to someone or who had not yet graduated out of

4070-612: The 17th, the women of the Harem effectively controlled the state in what was termed the " Sultanate of Women " ( Kadınlar Saltanatı ). The harem had its own internal organization and order of formulating policies. Beneath the Valide Sultan in the hierarchy was the Haseki Sultan , chief consort of the sultan, who had the chance of becoming the next Valide Sultan when her son ascended to the throne. This position existed around

4180-609: The 20th century, concubinage was a formal and institutionalized practice that upheld concubines' rights and obligations. A concubine could be freeborn or of slave origin, and her experience could vary tremendously according to her master's whim. During the Mongol conquests , both foreign royals and captured women were taken as concubines. Concubinage was also common in Meiji Japan as a status symbol . Many Middle Eastern societies used concubinage for reproduction. The practice of

4290-551: The American colonies had adhered to British political ideas and conceived of government as divided into executive and legislative branches (with judges operating as appendages of the executive branch). The following example of the separation of powers and their mutual checks and balances from the experience of the United States Constitution (specifically, Federalist No. 51 ) is presented as illustrative of

4400-652: The Beys/Deys of Tunis and Algiers established themselves as 'regencies' and even Egypt went its own way under its great khedive Mohammed Ali  – they would in turn be subjected to European colonial dominance, as protectorates , of France and Britain. Separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually law-making , adjudication , and execution ) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinguishable and articulated, thereby maintaining

4510-588: The Christianization of the Roman Empire , Christian emperors improved the status of the concubine by granting concubines and their children the sorts of property and inheritance rights usually reserved for wives. In European colonies and American slave plantations , single and married men entered into long-term sexual relationships with local women. In the Dutch East Indies , concubinage created mixed-race Indian-European communities . In

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4620-558: The Family" ( Chinese : 內則 ) it says, "If there were betrothal rites, she became a wife; and if she went without these, a concubine." Wives brought a dowry to a relationship, but concubines did not. A concubinage relationship could be entered into without the ceremonies used in marriages, and neither remarriage nor a return to her natal home in widowhood were allowed to a concubine. There are early records of concubines allegedly being buried alive with their masters to "keep them company in

4730-706: The Harem School. The Palace schools comprised not a single track, but two. First, the Madrasa ( Ottoman Turkish : Medrese ) for the Muslims, which educated the scholars and the state officials in accordance with Islamic tradition. The financial burden of the Medrese was supported by vakifs, allowing children of poor families to move to higher social levels and income. The second track, the Enderun School ,

4840-499: The Jia family are supported by one notable concubine of the emperor, Jia Yuanchun , the full elder sister of the male protagonist Jia Baoyu . In contrast, their younger half-siblings by concubine Zhao, Jia Tanchun and Jia Huan, develop distorted personalities because they are the children of a concubine. Emperors' concubines and harems are emphasized in 21st-century romantic novels written for female readers and set in ancient times. As

4950-576: The Middle East, powerful men kept as many concubines as they could financially support. Some royal households had thousands of concubines. In such cases concubinage served as a status symbol and for the production of sons. In societies that accepted polygyny, there were advantages to having a concubine over a mistress, as children from a concubine were legitimate, while children from a mistress would be considered "bastards". Scholars have made attempts to categorize patterns of concubinage practiced in

5060-574: The Ottoman court. It was ruled by the Valide sultan (Sultana Mother), mother of the reigning sultan, who held supreme power over the Harem and thus a powerful position in the court. On occasion, the Valide Sultan would become involved in state politics and through her influence could diminish the power and position of the sultan. For a period of time beginning in the 16th century and extending into

5170-544: The academic discipline of comparative government ); there are also normative theories, both of political philosophy and constitutional law , meant to propose a reasoned (not conventional or arbitrary) way to separate powers. Disagreement arises between various normative theories in particular about what is the (desirable, in the case of political philosophy, or prescribed, in the case of legal studies) allocation of functions to specific governing bodies or branches of government. How to correctly or usefully delineate and define

5280-496: The actions of administrative agencies as consisting of the three established functions being exercised next to each other merely in fact. Supervision and integrity-assuring activities (e.g., supervision of elections), as well as mediating functions ( pouvoir neutre ), are also in some instances regarded as their own type, rather than a subset or combination of other types. For instance Sweden have four powers, judicial, executive, legislative and administrative branches. One example of

5390-413: The afterlife". The position of the concubine was generally inferior to that of the wife. Although a concubine could produce heirs, her children would be inferior in social status to a wife's children, although they were of higher status than illegitimate children. The child of a concubine had to show filial duty to two women, their biological mother and their legal mother—the wife of their father. After

5500-536: The areas ruled by the Ottomans were explicitly mentioned in the official full style of the sultan, including various lofty titles adopted to emphasize imperial rank and show the empire as being " successor -in-law" to conquered states. The empire was divided into vilayets , with a governor assigned to each vilayet. The idea of vilayet originated from the Seljuk vassal state ( Uç Beyliği ) in central Anatolia . Over

5610-573: The branches need to have the constitutional means to defend their own legitimate powers from the encroachments of the other branches. Under this influence it was implemented in 1787 in the Constitution of the United States . In Federalist No. 78 , Alexander Hamilton , citing Montesquieu, redefined the judiciary as a separately distinct branch of government with the legislative and the executive branches. Before Hamilton, many colonists in

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5720-410: The civil law. By virtue of the first, the prince or magistrate enacts temporary or perpetual laws and amends or abrogates those that have been already enacted. By the second, he makes peace or war, sends or receives embassies, establishes public security, and provides against invasions. By the third, he punishes criminals or determines the disputes that arise between individuals. The latter we shall call

5830-503: The concubine of a king could achieve power, especially if her son also became a monarch. In China, successful men often had concubines until the practice was outlawed when the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949. The standard Chinese term translated as "concubine" was qiè 妾 , a term that has been used since ancient times. Concubinage resembled marriage in that concubines were recognized sexual partners of

5940-671: The constitution of England for few years during The Protectorate . The system comprised a legislative branch (the Parliament) and two executive branches, the English Council of State and the Lord Protector , all being elected (though the Lord Protector was elected for life) and having checks upon each other. A further development in English thought was the idea that the judicial powers should be separated from

6050-590: The court as a concubine to Xianfeng Emperor and gave birth to his only surviving son, who later became Tongzhi Emperor . She eventually became the de facto ruler of Qing China for 47 years after her husband's death. An examination of concubinage features in one of the Four Great Classical Novels , Dream of the Red Chamber (believed to be a semi-autobiographical account of author Cao Xueqin 's family life). Three generations of

6160-521: The danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection of human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing

6270-581: The daughters of allies, as was the custom of ancient kings. Concubinage was a common occupation for women in ancient Egypt, especially for talented women. A request for forty concubines by Amenhotep III (c. 1386–1353 BC) to a man named Milkilu , Prince of Gezer states: "Behold, I have sent you Hanya, the commissioner of the archers, with merchandise in order to have beautiful concubines, i.e. weavers. Silver, gold, garments, all sort of precious stones, chairs of ebony, as well as all good things, worth 160 deben. In total: forty concubines—the price of every concubine

6380-521: The death of a concubine, her sons would make an offering to her, but these offerings were not continued by the concubine's grandsons, who only made offerings to their grandfather's wife. Until the Song dynasty (960–1276), it was considered a serious breach of social ethics to promote a concubine to a wife. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the status of concubines improved. It became permissible to promote

6490-470: The defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public. We see it particularly displayed in all the subordinate distributions of power, where the constant aim is to divide and arrange the several offices in such a manner as that each may be a check on the other and that the private interest of every individual may be a sentinel over the public rights. These inventions of prudence cannot be less requisite in

6600-510: The distribution of the supreme powers of the State. There are different theories about how to differentiate the functions of the state (or types of government power), so that they may be distributed among multiple structures of government (usually called branches of government, or arms). There are analytical theories that provide a conceptual lens through which to understand the separation of powers as realized in real-world governments (developed by

6710-554: The emperor of the Qing dynasty were freeborn women from prominent families. Concubines of men of lower social status could be either freeborn or slave. Imperial concubines, kept by emperors in the Forbidden City , had different ranks and were traditionally guarded by eunuchs to ensure that they could not be impregnated by anyone but the emperor. In Ming China (1368–1644) there was an official system to select concubines for

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6820-460: The emperor. The age of the candidates ranged mainly from 14 to 16. Virtues, behavior, character, appearance and body condition were the selection criteria. Despite the limitations imposed on Chinese concubines, there are several examples in history and literature of concubines who achieved great power and influence. Lady Yehenara, otherwise known as Empress Dowager Cixi , was one of the most successful concubines in Chinese history. Cixi first entered

6930-604: The empire, the new republic abolished the Sultanate and Caliphate and declared the members of the House of Osman as personae non gratae of Turkey . Fifty years later, in 1974, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey granted descendants of the former dynasty the right to acquire Turkish citizenship. The current head of the House of Osman is Harun Osman . The Harem was one of the most important powers of

7040-476: The executive and federative powers are different, they are often combined in a single institution (2nd Tr., § 148). Locke believed that the legislative power was supreme over the executive and federative powers, which are subordinate. Locke reasoned that the legislative was supreme because it has law-giving authority; "[F]or what can give laws to another, must need to be superior to him" (2nd Tr., §150). According to Locke, legislative power derives its authority from

7150-521: The executive branch. This followed the use of the juridical system by the Crown to prosecute opposition leaders following the Restoration , in the late years of Charles II and during the short reign of James II (namely, during the 1680s). The first constitutional document to establish the principle of the separation of powers in government between the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches

7260-421: The family name. A samurai could take concubines but their backgrounds were checked by higher-ranked samurai. In many cases, taking a concubine was akin to a marriage. Kidnapping a concubine, although common in fiction, would have been shameful, if not criminal. If the concubine was a commoner, a messenger was sent with betrothal money or a note for exemption of tax to ask for her parents' acceptance. Even though

7370-459: The freedwoman and secretary of Antonia Minor , was Vespasian 's wife "in all but name", according to Suetonius , until her death in AD 74. Roman manumission law also allowed a slave-owner to free the slave and enter into concubinatus or a regular marriage . Epitaphs indicate that both partners in concubinatus might also be freedpersons, for reasons that are not entirely clear. A slave lacked

7480-416: The general principles applied in similar forms of government as well: But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to

7590-535: The graduates were permanently devoted to government service and had no interest in forming relations with lower social groups. The incoming students were called the inner boys ( Ottoman Turkish : iç oğlanlar). It took seven years of professional development to graduate. The apprenticeship began in the Sultan's services; progressing to mastering natural and Islamic sciences (formal education); and finally to developing physical fitnesses, and vocational or artistic skills. It

7700-416: The integrity of each. To put this model into practice, government is divided into structurally independent branches to perform various functions (most often a legislature, a judiciary and an administration, sometimes known as the trias politica ). When each function is allocated strictly to one branch, a government is described as having a high degree of separation; whereas, when one person or branch plays

7810-431: The judiciary power, and the other simply the executive power of the state. Montesquieu argues that each Power should only exercise its own functions. He was quite explicit here: When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in

7920-441: The late 14th century to mean the "state of being a concubine; act or practice of cohabiting in intimacy without legal marriage", and was derived from Latin by means of Old French, where the term may in turn have been derived from the Latin concubinatus , an institution in ancient Rome that meant "a permanent cohabitation between persons to whose marriage there were no legal obstacles". It has also been described more plainly as

8030-431: The legal and financial complications of marriage. Practical impediments or social disincentives for a couple to marry could include differences in social rank status, an existing marriage and laws against bigamy , religious or professional prohibitions, or a lack of recognition by the appropriate authorities. The concubine in a concubinage tended to have a lower social status than the married party or home owner, and this

8140-474: The legal authority of the sultan. The civil system was considered a check on the military system since beys (who represented executive authority) could not carry out punishment without the sentence of a qadi. Likewise, qadis were not permitted to personally effect punishment. In the areas of sharia and kanun law, qadis were responsible directly to the sultan. The Ottoman Empire had many vassal states of varying size attached to it. Vassals paid taxes to

8250-400: The pejorative paelex referred to a concubine who was a sexual rival to a wife—in early Rome, most often a war captive and hence unwillingly—and by late antiquity was loosely equivalent to " prostitute ". However, in Latin literature concubinae are often disparaged as slaves kept as sexual luxuries in the literal sense of "bedmate". The distinction is that the use of an enslaved woman

8360-452: The people, who have the right to make and unmake the legislature. He argues that once people consent to be governed by laws, only those representatives they have chosen can create laws on their behalf, and they are bound solely by laws enacted by these representatives. Locke maintains that there are restrictions on the legislative power. Locke says that the legislature cannot govern arbitrarily, cannot levy taxes, or confiscate property without

8470-427: The power to appoint carries with it the power to revoke. The executive power ought to be in the hands of a monarch, because this branch of government, having need of despatch, is better administered by one than by many: on the other hand, whatever depends on the legislative power is oftentimes better regulated by many than by a single person. But if there were no monarch, and the executive power should be committed to

8580-440: The practice of keeping a concubine ( Ancient Greek : παλλακίς pallakís ) was common among the upper classes, and they were for the most part women who were slaves or foreigners, but occasional free born based on family arrangements (typically from poor families). Children produced by slaves remained slaves and those by non-slave concubines varied over time; sometimes they had the possibility of citizenship. The law prescribed that

8690-723: The prevalence of the practice and the rights and expectations of the persons involved have varied considerably, as have the rights of the offspring born from such relationships, a concubine's legal and social status, their role within a household and society's perceptions of the institution. A relationship of concubinage could take place voluntarily, with the parties involved agreeing not to enter into marriage, or involuntarily (i.e. through slavery ). In slave-owning societies, most concubines were slaves, also called "slave-concubines". This institutionalization of concubinage with female slaves dates back to Babylonian times, and has been practiced in patriarchal cultures throughout history. Whatever

8800-433: The real world on its own initiative. Adjudicating constitutional disputes is sometimes conceptually distinguished from other types of power, because applying the often unusually indeterminate provisions of constitutions tends to call for exceptional methods to come to reasoned decisions. Administration is sometimes proposed as a hybrid function, combining aspects of the three other functions; opponents of this view conceive of

8910-431: The right to direct how the force of the commonwealth shall be employed" (2nd Tr., § 143), while executive power entailed the "execution of the laws that are made, and remain in force" (2nd Tr., § 144). Locke further distinguished federative power, which entailed "the power of war and peace, leagues and alliances, and all transactions with all persons and communities without [outside] the commonwealth" (2nd Tr., § 145), or what

9020-400: The ruler. On eleven occasions, the sultan was deposed because he was perceived by his enemies as a threat to the state. There were only two attempts in the whole of Ottoman history to unseat the ruling Osmanlı dynasty, both failures, which is suggestive of a political system which for an extended period was able to manage its revolutions without unnecessary instability. After the dissolution of

9130-516: The same man or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that of enacting laws, executing the public resolutions, and trying the causes of individuals. Separation of powers requires a different source of legitimization, or a different act of legitimization from the same source, for each of the separate powers. If the legislative branch appoints the executive and judicial powers, as Montesquieu indicated, there will be no separation or division of its powers, since

9240-411: The seat he sat on, until an incident arose (so it is related) when a ragged Turcoman blundered into a meeting of the Divan and demanded "Well, which of you is the happy Emperor ?". Mehmed was incensed and the Grand Vizier suggested he sit above the fray. Consequently, a latticed bay was constructed "The eye of the Sultan", enabling Mehmed to look down unseen. Townspeople, villagers and farmers formed

9350-400: The slave of the wife. However, in the late Babylonian period, there are reports that concubines could be sold. In general, marriage was monogamous. "If after two or three years of marriage the wife had not given birth to any children, the husband was allowed to buy a slave (who could also be chosen by the wife) in order to produce heirs. This woman, however, remained a slave and never gained

9460-402: The status and rights of the persons involved, they were typically inferior to those of a legitimate spouse, often with the rights of inheritance being limited or excluded. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. In the past, a couple may not have been able to marry because of differences in social class, ethnicity or religion, or a man might want to avoid

9570-474: The status of a second wife." In the Middle Assyrian Period, the main wife ( assatu ) wore a veil in the street, as could a concubine ( esirtu ) if she were accompanying the main wife, or if she were married. "If a man veils his concubine in public, by declaring 'she is my wife,' this woman shall be his wife." It was illegal for unmarried women, prostitutes and slave women to wear a veil in

9680-475: The street. "The children of a concubine were lower in rank than the descendants of a wife, but they could inherit if the marriage of the latter remained childless." While most Ancient Egyptians were monogamous , a male pharaoh would have had other, lesser wives and concubines in addition to the Great Royal Wife . This arrangement would allow the pharaoh to enter into diplomatic marriages with

9790-528: The sultan and often contributed with troops in various Ottoman military campaigns. Many of the imperial provinces were vassal states before being reduced to provinces. A vassal state that never became a province was the Khanate of Crimea in the region around Crimea , north of Black Sea  – it would fall to Russia instead (1783; later in modern Ukraine). The latter happened in North Africa:

9900-440: The three powers, independent and unchecked. According to the principle of checks and balances, each of the branches of the state should have the power to limit or check the other two, creating a balance between the three separate powers of the state. Each branch's efforts to prevent either of the other branches from becoming supreme form part of an eternal conflict, which leaves the people free from government abuses. Immanuel Kant

10010-543: The various forms of distribution of political power among a legislature , an executive , and a judiciary . Montesquieu's approach was to present and defend a form of government whose powers were not excessively centralized in a single monarch or similar ruler (a form known then as "aristocracy"). He based this model on the Constitution of the Roman Republic and the British constitutional system . Montesquieu took

10120-426: The various forms of marriage, the status of a concubina , and whether an extramarital sexual relationship was adultery or permissible pleasure-seeking with a prostitute, professional entertainer , or slave . Roman emperors not infrequently took a concubina , often a freedwoman, rather than remarrying after the death of their wife to avoid the legal complications pertaining to succession and inheritance . Caenis ,

10230-485: The view that the Roman Republic had powers separated so that no one could usurp complete power. In the British constitutional system, Montesquieu discerned a separation of powers among the monarch, Parliament, and the courts of law. In every government there are three sorts of power: the legislative; the executive in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive in regard to matters that depend on

10340-421: The woman would not be a legal wife, a situation normally considered a demotion, many wealthy merchants believed that being the concubine of a samurai was superior to being the legal wife of a commoner. When a merchant's daughter married a samurai, her family's money erased the samurai's debts, and the samurai's social status improved the standing of the merchant family. If a samurai's commoner concubine gave birth to

10450-416: The world. The International Encyclopedia of Anthropology gives four distinct forms of concubinage: Junius P. Rodriguez gives three cultural patterns of concubinage: Asian, Islamic and European. In Mesopotamia , it was customary for a sterile wife to give her husband a slave as a concubine to bear children. The status of such concubines was ambiguous; they normally could not be sold but they remained

10560-522: The years the Empire became an amalgamation of pre-existing polities , the Anatolian beyliks , brought under the sway of the ruling House of Osman . The central government was composed of the Sultan and his own staff (bookkeepers, etc.) in what was known as "House of Osman". The House of Osman was advised by the Divan , composed of the Grand Vizier and the ruling class (nobles). The ruling class

10670-496: The ‘state functions’ is another major bone of contention. The legislative function of the government broadly consists of authoritatively issuing binding rules. The function of adjudication (judicial function) is the binding application of legal rules to a particular case, which usually involves creatively interpreting and developing these rules. The executive function of government includes many exercises of powers in fact, whether in carrying into effect legal decisions or affecting

10780-571: Was Möge Khatun , who, according to the Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvayni , was "given to Chinggis Khan by a chief of the Bakrin tribe, and he loved her very much." After Genghis Khan died, Möge Khatun became a wife of Ögedei Khan. Ögedei also favored her as a wife, and she frequently accompanied him on his hunting expeditions . Before monogamy was legally imposed in the Meiji period , concubinage

10890-550: Was Pacts and Constitutions of Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporizhian Host , written in 1710 by Ukrainian Hetman Pylyp Orlyk . An earlier forerunner to Montesquieu's tripartite system was articulated by John Locke in his work Two Treatises of Government (1690). In the Two Treatises , Locke distinguished between legislative, executive, and federative power. Locke defined legislative power as having "...

11000-685: Was a boarding school for converted Christians, which conscripted 3,000 students annually from Christian boys between 8 and 20 years old from about one in forty families among the communities settled in Rumelia and/or the Balkans ; a process known as Devşirme . Orphans, single children, married boys, Jews, Russians, and craftsmen's and shepherd's sons were exempted. The Palace Schools were fairly successful in this trans-culturation of students, and many statesmen were products of this process. The system functioned strictly for government purposes, and (ideally)

11110-442: Was a concubina ; the term concubinus is used of men mainly in a same-sex union or to deprecate a relationship in which the woman was dominant. The use of the term concubina in epitaphs for family memorials indicates that the role was socially acceptable. A man was not allowed to have both a concubina and a wife (uxor) at the same time, but a single tombstone might list multiple wives or concubinae serially. By contrast,

11220-420: Was an advocate of this, noting that "the problem of setting up a state can be solved even by a nation of devils" so long as they possess an appropriate constitution to pit opposing factions against each other. Checks and balances are designed to maintain the system of separation of powers keeping each branch in its place. The idea is that it is not enough to separate the powers and guarantee their independence but

11330-542: Was called the askeri , including the noblemen, court officials, military officers and the religious class called the ulema . The Ottoman dynasty or House of Osman ( c. 1280–1922) was unprecedented and unequaled in the Islamic world for its size and duration. The Ottoman sultan, pâdişâh or "lord of kings", served as the empire's sole regent and was considered to be the embodiment of its government, though he did not always exercise complete control. The Ottoman family

11440-453: Was common among the nobility. Its purpose was to ensure male heirs. For example, the son of an Imperial concubine often had a chance of becoming emperor. Yanagihara Naruko , a high-ranking concubine of Emperor Meiji , gave birth to Emperor Taishō , who was later legally adopted by Empress Haruko , Emperor Meiji's formal wife. Even among merchant families, concubinage was occasionally used to ensure heirs. Asako Hirooka , an entrepreneur who

11550-456: Was illegal and socially disreputable for a man to have more than one wife at a time, but it was acceptable to have concubines. From the earliest times wealthy men purchased concubines and added them to their household in addition to their wife. The purchase of concubines was similar to the purchase of slaves, but concubines had a higher social status. In the earliest records a man could have as many concubines as he could afford to purchase. From

11660-519: Was no intention to marry. Concubinage was highly popular before the early 20th century all over East Asia . The main functions of concubinage for men was for pleasure and producing additional heirs, whereas for women the relationship could provide financial security. Children of concubines had lower rights in account to inheritance, which was regulated by the Dishu system . In China and the Muslim world,

11770-697: Was not concubinatus in the legal sense, which might involve a signed document , though even an informal concubine had some legal protections that placed her among the more privileged slaves of the household. Concubines occupied an entire chapter, now fragmentary, in the 6th-century compilation of Roman law known as the Digest , but concubinatus was never a fully realized legal institution. It evolved in ad hoc response to Augustan moral legislation that criminalized some forms of adultery and other consensual sexual behaviors among freeborn people ( ingenui ) outside marriage. Even Roman legal experts had trouble parsing

11880-407: Was often the reason why concubinage was preferred to marriage. A concubine could be an "alien" in a society that did not recognize marriages between foreigners and citizens. Alternatively, they might be a slave, or person from a poor family interested in a union with a man from the nobility . In other cases, some social groups were forbidden to marry, such as Roman soldiers, and concubinage served as

11990-484: Was originally Turkish in its ethnicity, as were its subjects; however the kingship quickly acquired many different ethnicities through intermarriage with slaves and European nobility. Throughout Ottoman history, however – despite the supreme de jure authority of the sultans and the occasional exercise of de facto authority by Grand Viziers  – there were many instances in which local governors acted independently, and even in opposition to

12100-469: Was the daughter of a concubine, worked hard to help her husband's family survive after the Meiji Restoration . She lost her fertility giving birth to her only daughter, Kameko; so her husband—with whom she got along well—took Asako's maid-servant as a concubine and fathered three daughters and a son with her. Kameko, as the child of the formal wife, married a noble man and matrilineally carried on

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